Description of the flag

From the Constitutional Law of the Republic of Angola adopted on 25 August 1992
(although text on national symbols is basically the same as that contained in
the Constitution adopted at the time of independence on 11 November 1975. In the
latter the national symbols are covered in Part IV and the country's name was
"People's Republic of Angola").

"Part VI
Symbols of the Republic of Angola

Article 161:
The symbols of the Republic of Angola shall be the Flag, the Insignia and
National Anthem.

Article 162:
The national flag shall consist of two colours in horizontal bands. The upper
band shall be bright red and the lower one black and they shall represent:
Bright red - the blood shed by Angolans during colonial oppression, the national
liberation struggle and the defence of the country.
Black - the African continent.
In the centre there shall be a composition formed by a segment of a cog wheel,
symbolising the workers and industrial production; a machete symbolising the
peasants, agricultural production and the armed struggle; and a star,
symbolising international solidarity and progress. The cog wheel,
the machete and the star shall be yellow, symbolising the country's wealth.

Article 163: (Coat of Arms)
The insignia of the Republic of Angola shall be formed by a segment of a cog
wheel and sheaves of maize, coffee and cotton, representing respectively the
workers and industrial production, the peasants and agricultural production. At
the foot of the design, an open book shall represent education and culture, and
the rising sun shall represent the new country. In the centre shall be a machete
and a hoe symbolising work and the start of the armed struggle. At the top shall
be star symbolising international solidarity and progress. In the lower part of the
emblem shall be a golden band with the inscription 'Republic of Angola'."

(Source: "Constitutions - what they tell us about flags and coats of arms"
by Jos Poels and Pascal Vagnat (SAVA, Dec 2000)Bruce Berry, 02 Nov 2006

Horizontally divided red over black.
In the middle a golden star, part of a cog wheel and a machete. Symbol
is clearly inspired by hammer and sickle, and represents industrial and
agricultural workers.
Yellow is to represent mineral wealth, and red and black are said to
stand for 'Freedom or Death'. Officially hoisted at independence on 11 November 1975.
Željko Heimer, 28 November 1995

The People's Republic of Angola (PRA) adopted a flag closely based on that of
the ruling MPLA: red over black with a yellow design
in the centre featuring a cogwheel, machete and star. The PRA was proclaimed by the
MPLA in March 1975; it was this action which caused the final split between the MPLA,
FNLA and
UNITA who had previously agreed to bury their
differences in the run-up to independence. Initially, it was recognized only by
radical African nations and the Communist bloc. Cuba dispatched thousands of
troops to Angola in 1975 to ensure victory for the MPLA, and South Africa
intervened (with tacit US backing) in support of UNITA and the FNLA. Once South
Africa became involved in the conflict, other African nations recognized the PRA
and by 1976 it was also acknowledged by the
Organization of African Unity. In contrast, the United States did not
recognize the PRA until 1991 - by which time the ruling MPLA had officially
abandoned Marxism, and the word "People's" from the title of the country. In
view of political developments, it is quite likely that a new flag will be
adopted by a future Angolan government.
Stuart A. Notholt, 01 Oct 1996

The country name was altered to the 'Republic of Angola' in the Coat of Arms by
Angola Constitution Article 163 in Part VI issued on 24 August 1992.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 17 Jun 1999

The National Flag shall consist of two colours in horizontal bands. The upper
band shall be bright red and the lower one black and they shall represent:
Bright red - The blood shed by Angolans during colonial oppression, the
national liberation struggle and the defense of the country.
Black - The African continent.
In the center there shall be a composition formed by a segment of a
cogwheel, symbolizing the workers and industrial production, a machete,
symbolizing the peasants, agricultural production and the armed struggle, and a
star, symbolizing international solidarity and progress.
The cog wheel, the machete and the star shall be yellow, symbolizing the
country's wealth.
Source: Constitution of Angola.
M.V. Blanes, 12 Sep 2000

The Parliament of Angola approved on 21 January 2010 a new
constitution. The national flag remains unaltered. Further details
can be found
here. Chrystian Kretowicz, 22 Jan 2010

Flag specifications

image by
Martin Grieve, 16 Oct 2005

No official construction sheet for Angola's national flag exists as
far as I am aware. Therefore the images I depict should be approached very cautiously.
My sources here were Graham Bartram's illustration on the
World Flag Database web-site,
and Christopher Southworth's figures, which differ only very slightly
from the ones I "calculate" here -
probably because of rounding up to whole numbers.Martin Grieve, 16 Oct 2005

I am a little bit confused about the position of the cog wheel. Manuel
Gabino's image on FOTW, Fischer Weltalmanach (2005) and "Wappen und Flaggen
aller Nationen" (1980) [smi81g] are
all showing one cog "lying" on the border of red and
black. Your image and the image in my Chinese book "National Flags, Emblems
and Anthems across the World" (2003) have this cog crossing the border.
Is there no specification or was there a change ?J. Patrick Fischer, 16 Oct 2005

Actually, I believe you got one thing wrong: the position of the device on
the flag.

As you drew it, with the "whole" cogwheel centered on the flag, the final
effect is of a device shifted to the fly because the hoist side of the
cogwheel is missing and there's nothing in its place. This unbalances the
flag, and therefore I believe that it shouldn't be so: the device should be
centered as it is effectively drawn, not counting the missing part of the
wheel.Jorge Candeias, 16 Oct 2005

I agree with Jorge's comment that the emblem should be centrally
positioned.

Also, I wonder if we could even talk about such a construction sheet
at all, since quite different constructions could produce equally
acceptable image of the flag - compare the Album 2000 [pay00] drawing - quite
different one in details.

According to Album 2000 the cog wheel should "start" at 12 o'clock,
just above the star. Also one point of the star should
almost directly point toward the tip of the machete - quite unlike
those in your drawing. But these are all just descriptions of various
drawings - we still don't know from where to start - we need a primary source.

By the way, I am not sure why there is a "notch" in the cog laying directly
under the machete (namely the cog number 7 if you count the visible
cogs from the top clockwise). It seems to me that there is no reason
why it would be "cut" vertically?Željko Heimer, 16 Oct 2005

As it is now drawn, with the "whole" cogwheel centered on the flag,
the final effect is of a device shifted to the fly because the hoist side of the
cogwheel is missing and there's nothing in its place. This unbalances the
flag, and therefore I believe that it shouldn't be so: the device should be
centered as it is effectively drawn, not counting the missing part of the
wheel.

Perhaps but perhaps not? As we know flags do not always follow what is
logical or most attractive, and in the absence of any official statistics
(and all my efforts have been unable to bring any to light) one answer is as
likely to be right as the other - is the star, the part cogwheel or indeed
the whole emblem centred?Christopher Southworth, 17 Oct 2005

I did not realise what a "storm" I would start up when I
posted the images of Angola's National flag and construction sheet, but
the response from so many eminent Vexillologists interested me and I
would like to thank all of you for polite, and constructive
criticism/support on this matter.

Let me start here by saying that the entire ensemble is *never*
positioned centrally on the flag, and the
reason I say this, is because no fewer than 5 flag books and 1 flag
chart that I own show the entire device shifted (albeit very slightly
in many cases) towards the fly on the National flag of Angola.

I would be the first to agree that the device, if centrally positioned
would be more attractive, - but this would make the star out of place.
Angola's flag presents us with an optical illusion and it is impossible
therefore to say with any conviction that the device is dead-center - even
although at first glance it may seem so.Martin Grieve, 17 Oct 2005

Bruce Berry has three Angolan Flags in his collection. Two are
manufactured by the National Flag company in South Africa
and the other by William Smith & Gourock, a Zimbabwean flag manufacturer.
Bruce has shown me all three of them in order to
produce a drawing.

The Zimbabwe-made version is produced in the overall proportions of
1:2, which is hardly surprising as Zimbabwe's National Flag is 1:2.
The two versions of the South African-made flags are in the ratio of
2:3. and all 3 versions differ slightly in the geometric arrangement
of the central device which consists of a machete, half-cogwheel and
5-pointed star. All of these flags show this entire device to be
positioned approximately centrally upon the flag.

The shades of yellow are all consistent - a deep shade which I
approximate to RGB 255-204-0, whilst the red is a deep red. Album des Pavillons
[pay00]
gives this shade of red to be
PMS 186c which is identical to the shade of red on the Union Flag of
the United Kingdom.
Bruce compared these two flags next to one another and informs me that
the Angolan red is slightly brighter.
The half-cogwheel's tooth-edges are all illustrated as "beveled" as
opposed to being radially produced from the centre of the wheel - the first
remark on the flag from Bruce when we met.
The main difference between the two South African produced flags is the
termination of the half-cogwheel. The storm size one has the top-most
cut-off line at about 5 past twelve o'clock whilst the larger version
has this at 12 o'clock and therefore vertical from the 5-pointed star.
It would now appear that placing the half-cogwheel in the centre would
be erroneous, although one could argue that providing the flag consists
of the basic elements and "looks right" it would not be
wrong.Martin Grieve, 30 Oct 2005

All considered, the shade of red on the flag of Angola should be drawn as
RGB:255-255-0. Album des Pavillons [pay00]
gives this shade of red to be PMS 186c which is identical to the shade of red on
the Union Flag of the UK. This is, in my opinion, a mistake. No matter how
one matches it to any given system, the shade of red in the Union Jack is
explicitly dark (FIAV'S R+), while the flag of Angola is bright red (vermelho vivo in the Constitution). Any
coherent pair of these two flags should always show the Union Jack in a darker
shade, regardless of the exact values used.António MARTINS-Tuválkin, 01 Nov 2005

The protocol manual for the London 2012 Olympics (Flags and
Anthems Manual, London, 2012) [loc12] provides recommendations for national flag designs. Each National Olympic
Committee was sent an image of their flag, including the PMS shades, by the
London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) for their approval.
Once this was obtained, the LOCOG produced a 60 x 90 cm version of the flag for
further approval. So, while these specifications may not be the official,
government, version of each flag, they are certainly what the National Olympic
Committee believed their flag to be.

For Angola : PMS 186 red, 109 yellow and black. The vertical version is
simply the flag turned through 90 degrees clockwise. The star is very slightly
larger than shown on FOTW - approx. 7mm of 43mm in the book, as against 7mm out
of 55mm on my monitor.Ian Sumner, 10 Oct 2012

Coat of Arms

image
sent by M.V. Blanes, 12 Sep 2000

The insignia of the Republic of Angola shall be formed by a segment
of a cogwheel and sheaves of maize, coffee and cotton, representing respectively
the workers and industrial production, the peasants and agricultural production.

At the foot of the design, an open book shall represent education and
culture, and the rising sun shall represent the new country. In the center
shall be a machete and a hoe symbolizing work and the start of the armed
struggle. At the top shall be a star symbolizing international solidarity
and progress.
In the lower part of the emblem shall be a golden band with the inscription
'Republic of Angola'.
Source: Constitution of Angola.
M.V. Blanes, 12 Sep 2000

Just a note on the terminology: as the emblem in question is not following
the rules of heraldry, it ought not to be called coat of arms. Note, that
in the legal text below, the words used are insignia, design and emblem.
There is no mention of arms or coat of arms. Elias Granqvist, 13 Sep 2000